・・★・・・・・・★・・

CHAPTER FOUR

MISERY BUSINESS

・・★・・・・・・★・・

     IT WAS THAT MESSAGE, THAT STUPID MESSAGE, that was replaying in her head hours later when she back at Joe's place. In her excitement, Charlotte had already stripped out of her pants and dark blouse to trade them in for dark leggings and a college alumni sweatshirt. But her mind was still stuck on that message. It was half-past six when she and Barry were called down to dinner, as Joe still in his uniform from work, placed plates of spaghetti in front of them.

     Charlotte was halfway through her plate when she hears Joe begin to strike up a conversation. First, she expected it to be about something interesting like Jay Garrick or world peace, and to be fair, the expectation was correct about it being interesting, it just that it wasn't about Jay Garrick or world peace.

     "The CCPD issued a warrant for your father today," said Joe. He took a sip of water, and she looked up at him. He smiled halfway. She did not smile back. "I have every trusted officer I know on this case."

      "No offense, but Raymond Summers is a smart man, I strongly disagree that he's going to threatened by a warrant," said Charlotte. She feels a little discouraged at this. Issuing warrants were going to bring her dad to justice. He just finds a way out of it just like he always did. Surely, she just being negative and not giving a Joe a chance? "And I think my dad has been through the system enough to know every officer, y'know?"

     "Well, I did add this new officer — she's eager to get on the case."

     "Or eager to get killed."

     Joe raised an eyebrow at her. Charlotte smiled.

     "Trust me, Charlotte," he said, "I know it this time, we'll get him this time. I just feel it in my bones. This time it will be different."

     Charlotte frowned. "I really do hope so," she told him. "Thanks for helping—"

     Her phone starts to buzz under the table and her heart begins to speed up. Halfway through her sentence, she pauses to look down at it. The same caller ID stared back at her from earlier.

UNKNOWN: IT'S ALMOST TIME. WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?

   Shit. Shit. Shit.

     "Charlie—?"

     Charlotte looked up at Barry, her eyes sang with worry and her heart still paced at a rapid speed. She gulped and placed her phone down on her lap. She had been so distracted by her message that she didn't notice that Joe had already moved from the dinner table to the kitchen. Barry had been standing beside her, his hand on her plate and silverware.

     "Joe ordered a pie from that new pie place downtown," Barry said. She saw Joe in the corner of her eye with a pink box in his hand, she assumed it was the pie. "I know it's not Jitters cake pop, but this could possibly be the next best thing."

     "Oh, uh, I-I think I'm going to pass on dessert tonight," said Charlotte, "it's been a long day of traveling and multi-world talk, I think I'm going call it a night."

     "But it's only six—"

     "Yeah, well, actually, beauty queens sleep early, I heard it keeps their youth."

     "Uh, I guess so."

     "Yeah, so, I'll see you guys tomorrow! And, I'll be in my room—" said Charlotte. Barry raises an eyebrow as she begins to flail. "Well, good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite."

     She grabs her phone and trails up the stairs, closing to door behind her as she enters the guest room that she claimed as hers for her visit. She was very grateful that Joe suggested his place as an invitation while she stayed in Central City. It was much easier staying with someone that she knew rather than staying alone at an apartment. Speaking of an apartment, she figured it would be more expensive to find a nice place in the heart of the city. And Joe would rather her stay in a safe place like his house than some expensive apartment that she would be paying a high price for.

     Somewhere, deep down in her heart, she knew this a was a terrible idea. She knew it was a terrible idea to lie about her location, and she knew damn well it was a terrible idea to be doing this all alone. Take the night at the bar, for instance. But maybe, all terrible idea lead to good solutions? God, she sure hoped so. She had to try.

     It was a life-imperiling game of risk and reward. She could risk everything and she could end up dead in the middle of nowhere or she could finally get the wish she had been praying for since she was little.

     Determinedly, Charlotte pushed open the window of the two-story house and with her suit under her large sweatshirt, she jumped down, landing on her own two feet. She checked her phone. 6:46 PM.

      Figuring she didn't have any more time to wander around, her legs quickly carried to the edge of the driveway. She quickly, but quietly hopped inside of the old Honda Civic, starting it up and speeding out as soon as the tire hit the gravel road. She just really prayed that Barry wouldn't notice his car missing. And she also prayed that he didn't have a tracker on it either.

     A few minutes late, but with time to spare, she parks the car two blocks from her destination and hurries into the abandoned building. Dressed to head-toe in a black combat suit, with a mask covering her eyes and her dark hair down covering face, she climbs onto the roof of the building. She's next to a couple crates so she isn't that noticeable. It's 7:10 PM now. Raymond Summers walks inside of the building.

     He's always dressed nicely whenever he's doing business. Hell, he's always dressed nice. He's wearing a dark suit with a red tie. His arms are covered with gold bracelets and a watch. His hair is slick back and his tattoos are in sight. When she was little, Charlotte thought he was cool for having ink art covering his body, but now that she older, she thinks differently. She thinks he's a dick.

     The men that follow behind have guns in their hands, and she knows it's because Raymond probably fears someone might be stupid or heroic to show up and ruin the fun. But there's only two of them this time, so Charlotte knows she can handle it. She handled men with weapons before and she knows how to kill them with her bare hands if she needs to. Oliver Queen taught her that move. But she swore it would only be used for emergencies. And this would be counted as an emergency.

     Charlotte thanks God that she was able to snatch a couple of weapons from Cisco's workshop earlier because this would be way more difficult if she had to worry about getting choked to death or something. She would have her bag of arrows she could use to stab her opponent in the kneecap or something like that. In other words, she would be ready.

     "Bring him in for the boss."

     She stands on the railing on the roof, her hands are gripped tightly as she balances. Her eyes glanced over at the man with his hands tied behind his back. He looks like he's in his late thirties, maybe late forties. But that's beside the point. Anyways. He has a sack around his head and he placed in a chair.

     Immediately, after one of Raymond's henchmen takes off the sack, the man screams, "Please, oh God, please just let me go!"

     Raymond looks pleased with this. His smile is mischievous. "Calm down, we'll let you go," he says. He looks at his men and the share the same malicious smile as him. "But first you have to answer some questions for me."

     "I'll do anything, man — I mean, sir."

     "I like this guy, he has manners," Raymond teases. The face of the worried man slowly begins to relax and halfway smiles at the compliment given by Raymond. But Raymond doesn't like that. The heavily jeweled man throws his right hand across his victim's face. Charlotte's heart sinks. "But this well-mannered boy fucked me over."

     "I swear, sir — I didn't, I didn't—"

     "Stop fucking lying to me! You stole my package. Do know what I had to go through—"

     "But, sir, it wasn't me, I had nothing to do—"

      That earns him another slap across the face, and now his nose is crooked and blood is tracing down his mouth. Raymond steps back and whispers something to his associates. By the looks of it, Charlotte knows it isn't something good. Nothing good can ever come out of Raymond Summers.

       When he's done, the men both look at each other and nod back at their boss. Raymond looks back at the victim and frowns. Tears are streaming down the man's face and blood is now oozing out of his nose. But that doesn't stop Raymond from getting one more punch in the face that sends him flying backward in the chair.

       Raymond slowly bends down, his head tilted to the side, and says, "Now, I haven't gotten all day for this, so I'll give you a chance. You can consider it a blessing at your cost." he says. "Where the hell is my package—"

       Before he could finish his sentence, someone walks in. The woman is close to Charlotte height, and she has blonde hair. Her hands are both placed on the trigger of her gun as she fiercely walks in on the deal. She standing ten feet away from Raymond and his men.

       "Raymond Summers," she states, "There been issued a warrant for your arrest. Step away from the man and put your hands in the air."

      Charlotte has to give it to the girl. She has guts. If anything, Charlotte knew better than anyone that it was practically a cardinal sin for anyone to step in and interrupt Raymond Summers while he was in the middle of doing business. Well, he called it business. Charlotte called it misery business.

     Raymond looks down at the man, and then back at the female officer. He laughs to himself as he slowly stands up, along with his hands into reaching towards the sky. "Boy, I didn't think it would end like this," he says.

     She smiles proudly as she watches the perpetrator follow the command he was given. She slowly inches closer towards him, her gun still in hand. Raymond still has a wicked smile on her face. He's planning something. Or he has something planned. "But you would think that the infamous CCPD would send more police officers to track down a wanted man like me."

     Her confidence seems to die down a little as she nervously takes a few more steps towards him. Suddenly, out of nowhere, there's a big bang and Charlotte's heart jumps a little out of her chest. Apparently, when Aurora walked inside and examined the place, she didn't notice the other henchman that had been hiding in the very corner of the room. And apparently, the officer didn't notice either. Which would probably explain why the officer was knocked out cold on the floor.

       She takes this as her cue, and leaps into the air. Her boots click and she swiftly reaches behind her as she grabs her bow and arrow from her back, gracefully landing smoothly.

        "What the f—"

        This is what she's been waiting for.

       "Looks like I came just in time for the party, huh?"

        Charlotte's vision is keen as she views the men that surround her. All of them are dressed in the same outfits, black pants, and dark shirts. As she examines all of them, she knows that she could knock them out easily. And the quicker she does that, the quicker she can get the person she came for.

     She wastes no time on speeches and introductions, and neither does Raymond's team as they lunge towards Aurora. Her fingers laced in between her bow and arrow, almost like The Arrow, swiftly move as the rapid amount of bows go flying through the air, each of them landing directly in the chest of the henchmen. Almost for fun, Charlotte decides to put away her arrow and bow and replace them with her fist. She punching and kicking each of the men. This was almost too easy.

      By the time she is done, she's realized that Raymond is running out of the building, but Charlotte's smart enough to know that she not going to let him get away. And he's dumb enough to realize that she's not going to give up easily. She follows after him as she finds herself at a dock. He standing at the edge of the dock, his feet at sitting at the edge.

     She reaches for her bow and arrow and points it at him. He looks back at her and then back at the edge. He going to do something. But what?

      "It's over, Summers," she yells. "Just give up now and I promise you, you won't find a bow in your ass."

       He laughs. "Daddy's little girl is a superhero."

      Don't listen to him, Charlotte, she thinks. He's just trying to get in your head.

      "Who would have thought," he says. He looks behind him. What his he doing? "It seems like just yesterday I was telling you stories about princesses being brave —and, well, look at you now."

       Don't listen to him.

       "You know, daddy's not going to go without a fight, Charlie, baby," says Raymond. "There's a bomb somewhere in the building. If I had to guess, its scheduled to go off in two minutes, maybe? Now, what kind of superhero would you be if you let those people who are still in there die?"

      Shit. He's good.

      "Your lying," Aurora said. She moves closer to him. He turns around and smiles. "You just want to distract me from business—"

      He turns back and with that one smile, he sends Aurora a wave of worry. "Now, would daddy ever lie to you?"

      She hears a bang. Aurora spins around.

      From afar, she could see smoke filling the sky. She curses amongst herself and turns back around and notices that Raymond is gone. She hears a motor and she runs towards the end of the dock and sees a boat roaming through the water. Her eye vision goes red as she draws back her bow and shoots out an arrow towards the boat. She hopes that this one kills the sneaky bastard. But it doesn't. Instead, it goes flying into the deep dark water.

      She wants to scream. She wants to cry. But she doesn't have time for that. She has to do what a superhero needs to do. She has to save those people. Aurora takes off. She steps over crates and jumps over large bunkers as she running and crawling into the fiery building. Inside, the weak henchmen that had been destroyed by Aurora had managed to get out in the nick of time, leaving the victim and the police behind.

       Annoyed, Aurora jumps down on to the ground and quickly runs towards the man in the chair. His face was covered with dried blood and he was screaming to the top of his lungs for help. She quickly untied him and set him upright. The bright flames that had been set off had grown stronger and Aurora needed to think fast before she would burn.

      "Look, I don't know what you did to piss off Raymond, but don't do anything stupid because I swear I'll be ten times worse than him," she spits. The man nervously nods. God, she's just like her dad. "We need to find out here and fast. Do you have suggestions?"

       "The Flash, maybe he'll—"

         She resisted the urge to slap him unconscious at his comment. Instead, she rolls her eyes and trails over to the police officer. By now, she awake and Aurora is gratefully she doesn't have to shake viciously or carry her out.

      "What—what's going on? Where am I?"

      "You'll be dead if we don't find out a way out of here," says Aurora, frowning at him. "So let's skip to chat—"

       "Wait, aren't you Aurora?"

      The man from earlier calls out for her attention, and she turns back. He's signaling for her to follow him out of a large hole in the corner of the building. Although the building the had been placed on the fire, half of it was still able to withstand the flames, which made for a great way for them all to escape. At least, that was easy.

      Sirens can be heard from a distance, and again, Aurora curses amongst herself as she realizes, she still has to escape without being seen. Not only that, but Barry's car is two blocks from here and she doesn't want to get caught either in that. She makes a mental note to herself that she needs to beg Cisco for a motorbike or something.

      "If you looking for a way out of here, just ahead there a shortcut to the main road. I suppose you might have your motorbike hiding there or something like that." says the police officer. "Don't worry, I'll hand things from here."

      "Thanks," she says. The sirens are coming closer. "Just do me a favor and don't mention this to anyone. You'd be doing me a huge favor, Officer—"

      "Oh, uh O-Officer Spivot, Patty Spivot."

      "Right. Thanks!"

       Charlotte grins once she finally reaches her destination of the parked car. She quickly starts the car, after dodging the police cars and speeds towards Joe's house. (Well. Not almost immediately, who would she be if she didn't stop for a dozen cake pops and shake from Big Belly Burger?) Just like before, she's quick to turn into the driveway. She put on her sweatshirt and her stretched pants. Her mouth slips out a few forbidden words when she realized she cannot climb towards her window, forcing her to unlock the door with Barry's key. Once, she's inside, she thanks God no one is in the living room so she takes her time head up the stairs.

      With her suit stripped off and placed away, she crawls in bed. With a million things on her mind, she sits upright on her bed. For starters, what hell was Raymond talking about when he mentioned about a package? It was obvious that it wasn't drugs, because he referred to drugs as packages. Although Raymond had a high market for that kind of stuff, his forte was more of weaponry. Selling illegal drugs were more of a small side job. Who the hell was this officer and why was she being so nice to her? The police weren't fans of Aurora. That was a known fact. And the victim, why was Raymond so mad at him?

      There was something bad that Raymond Summers was cooking up. And Charlotte needed to figure this out fast. Or else his business was going to be her misery business.

★

       "HEY BOSS!" says Albert Smith, entering the room located in the back of the yacht. Raymond is sitting back in his luxury chair, holding onto his unlit cigar in his hand. His fingers and arms are still covered with gold bands and rings, there still specks on blood on them, but he'll take of it later. It just leaves him with a reminder of what needs to be done. But it's not like he needs one, honestly.

        He looks up. Albert is leaning next to the door frame, holding onto a newspaper article. He tossed the newspaper to the desk, and Raymond looks down, putting his cigar down for a moment. Raymond picks up the newspaper.

GRAND RE-OPENING OF THE CENTRAL MUSEUM!

       "So do you want me to throw a fucking parade for them?" says Raymond, chuckling. He remembers back when he was younger how he always traveled. With every destination he came across, it never failed for him to visit a museum. It really wasn't his cup of tea, actually. He never pictured in his life that he would enjoy looking at old statues or memorial marks. It just really wasn't his side. Instead, it was his offspring's. He remembers the joy on her face whenever he told her they were going on another business trip. She always loved museums. He didn't understand why, but she just did.

      "How about if you read the whole thing, dumbass?" says Albert, rolling his eyes. The eyes of Raymond Summers glance down at the article, detailing more about the headline.

After six months of closing down due to unknown circumstances, The Central City Museum is now scheduled to be opened this Thursday at 1 PM...

...The museum at this time will be unveiling its newest discovery, Central City's newest discovery...

Seraphina is the most powerful diamond found to this date...

...rare power...

      "This Seraphina diamond," says Raymond, a small smile on his face. He looks back up at Albert. His cigarette is dangling from his mouth and his hands are stuffed into his pocket. "Is this the piece that we've been looking for?"

       "No, I just thought I would show you a random ass article about a museum," says Albert, as Raymond grabs his lighter, lighting his cigar. Albert walks further into the room, sitting opposite of Raymond. He leans closer, signaling Raymond to lit his own smoking material. "Of course, it is. With all that power in our hands, we'll have the city in its knees."

       Raymond's brows furrow. "I'll have the city on its knees," he says. He looks down at his ring. He thinks of the man he beat up earlier. He really was telling the truth, wasn't he? He didn't steal the package. It's too bad he's dead... "You'll just be a sidekick. And if you're lucky, you'll be promoted in the future, but that's only if you don't fuck me over."

        Now it should be explained that Raymond trusted Albert Smith more than he trusted anyone in his life. His wife included. The relationship of Raymond Summers and Albert Smith occurred around the time Raymond started his crime career. At the age of twenty five, Raymond had been in and out of the system for petty crimes like theft and reckless driving, but it wasn't until he met Albert Smith did his whole life change. After being randomly jumped by a bunch of random assholes, Raymond took it in consideration to look after Albert, which followed into the making of Albert's rap sheet. Only a few younger than him, Albert and Raymond became the infamous crime duo in Central City. And ever since the two had been inseparable.

      "There won't be a future if that Aurora chick still alive," says Albert.

       Raymond scoffs. "I swear, that bitch – we've got to figure out a plan to get rid—"

       "We?" says Albert, taking a puff of his cigarette. "I thought I was just your sidekick."

      Raymond reaches for his glass. "And you'll be a dead sidekick if you don't help me come up with a solution."

       "I think I might have an idea," says Albert, looking pleased with himself. Raymond raises his brow at him. He watches Albert's face change, as he grabs his phone. He punches a few things into it before looking back at Raymond. "But it might cost you a little."

       "How much, exactly?"

        "We'll worry about cost later," says Albert. "Now, do you remember my son, Travis?"

★

      "NOT THAT I AM SUPER VILLAIN EXPERT," says Charlotte, as she crosses her arms. She trails behind Barry as he examines the old boats for clues. He hums a response as he places a blue glove on his hand. "But how could you let sandman guy kick your ass? I mean it's sand. This is practically the most non-violent thing on Earth we are talking about."

      "Yeah, but was different. It was a sandman," says Barry. "Like a man that was actually made out of sand. It's not that easy as it sounds."

      "Oh, yeah right, because a metahuman that is made out of sand is the hardest thing to conquer." chuckled Charlotte.

      "OK...Miss Big Shot, if you think it's so easy then why didn't you show up last night?" asks Barry.

      Charlotte's heart begins to speed up. According to Barry, last night there was an emergency in downtown Central City at the old waterfront. In an effort to help spread the word about the goddess being back, Barry tried to get ahold of her multiple times by knocking on her door and texting her, but after several failed attempts he decided to go off on his own.

      Charlotte had yet to explain to him the event that had occurred with her that night. And she was going to keep it that way. She figured what he didn't know, wouldn't exactly hurt him.

       Not this time at least.

       Before Charlotte could open her mouth to speak, Joe appeared. He hummed a quick greeting to the both of them. "What are we dealing with here?"

      "Well, definitely a metahuman." Barry sighed. "Had a pretty solid look at him between punches. And he was, like, made of sand."

       "Not mention, he got his ass kicked too...by sand." Charlotte spoke.

       "Sand?"

      "I know right!"

      "Hmm..."

      "These walls are too porous to pull any print," says Barry. He walks around the room and both Joe and Charlotte trail behind him. "There are gasoline burns everywhere, the sprinklers didn't go off. I think this was arson."

       Joe was about to open his mouth to speak, but a small voice interjected. Charlotte's eyes moved towards the small petite blonde woman that approached the group. Her brows furrowed together as she looked up and down at the woman. There was something about that looked familiar, but Charlotte really couldn't figure it out.

      "Excuse me?" she says. "Barry Allen?"

       Barry looks up at her, and she smiles. Joe rolls his eyes at her. "Two days in a row, Officer. What a coincidence."

     "Or kismet, if you believe in destiny or fate." she smiles.

     "Uh..."

       "I'm Patty. Patty Spivot."

      Charlotte's eyes widened. This familiar woman was the blonde officer from the night before. She looked back at Joe and he sent her a glare before directing his attention back to the officer.

      "I'm a huge fan," she says. Charlotte raises her eyebrow at her.

      "Excuse me?"

      "Your forensic reports," she smiles. Her smile seems to grow bigger the more Barry gives her attention. Charlotte is starting to get annoyed, but it is not noticeable. "I-I read them sometimes."

      "Oh.."

      "Who am I kidding? All the time. I've actually read them all."

      Barry raises his eyebrow. "Oh, uh, wow, I don't think that I've read them all."

      "They're always so detailed," she says. "You know, they really paint a picture like you were somehow actually there when somebody was being brutally murdered."

      "Well, that's Barry," Charlotte spoke up. She glances at Joe, who doesn't seem to know what to make of Patty. So instead of showing a sign of disapproval, he smiles. She can already tell that he has a spoonful of thoughts about this girl and Barry. "He's very detailed and organized. Not to mention, he's incredible at what he does."

      Barry seemed fluttered. "Well, um, thanks."

      The rest of the people in the room goes quiet. The awkwardness had danced around the room, causing Charlotte to shift uncomfortably, and she didn't quite like it. She looks at Barry. He obviously too impressed at Patty to even look back at her.

      "Uh, anyhow, I-I found, uh, something," Patty says, after a few quiet moments. Joe looks at Charlotte with his eyebrows furrowed. "Well, I think I found something. It's just a theory, but I would like to show."

      "Great," says Barry.

      The three of them follow Patty to back of the waterfront as she ushers them inside. "So this right here is the point of origin of the fire. And I found this," she says. She leads them towards a certain machine, pointing towards the cut wires. "I don't know a sandblaster on the market that can make a cut that precise, so I think a metahuman may have done this...I-I took a sample for you. There some on that pipe over there."

       Barry smiles at her. "You should have gone into CSI work."

      "I love the science, but out here's where all the action is," Patty smiles sweetly. "Isn't that right, Detective West?"

      Joe frowns at her as he begins to walk off from the group. "The answer is still no, Officer Spivot," he said. "Let's just focus on the case that you've already been assigned to. Stick to what you know."

      "Right," she forces a smile on her face to hide her disappointment.

      As Joe leaves, Patty sighs loudly and turns back towards both Charlotte and Barry. Charlotte couldn't help, but to feel slightly still awkward with Patty. It wasn't the fact that she was annoyed with her or anything, but she felt like a third wheel in the group, which was really weird because she never felt that way before. She was never the third wheel. "What was that all about?" asked Barry.

     "I'm trying to join the anti-metahuman task force," Patty sighs. Barry hums a small response. "But you heard him. He knows best, right?"

      "I mean," Charlotte spoke. Barry looked up at her. "Nine times out of ten, Joe is very wise and he's always right. Like this morning whenever he told me that it was supposed to rain and I didn't believe him. As soon as I walked out the door, it begins to sprinkle. I honestly do think he might be a wizard—"

      "Uh, he's like your dad, right?" asks Patty. Barry nods. Charlotte feels annoyed. "Do you have any advice on how I can crack his no-code?"

      "Yeah, uh, I've been trying to pick that lock since I was eleven," Barry says. Patty laughs. "So, if you figure it out, how about you let me know?"

      After a few more slightly awkward moments, Patty finally bids a goodbye to Barry and a seldom wave towards Charlotte. Her forced smile that once plastered her face disappeared instantly after Patty walked away.

      Barry couldn't himself as he continued to smile to himself. "Well, she seems—"

      "Annoying."

      "No, I was going to say she seems—"

     "Like a total psycho..."

    "No."

     "Well," says Charlotte. She can already feel the butterflies appearing in her stomach. She's never felt that way before. It was like almost she nervous to hear Barry opinion on another girl. But then that would mean that she was jealous. No, she wasn't. She was fine. The muffin that she ate earlier must've have gotten to her because she wasn't jealous. "I am out of guesses. What were you going to say?"

     "I, uh, I was going to say," Barry says. "Well, uh, you know, nevermind, are you ready to go to S.T.A.R Labs?"

     Charlotte raises her eyebrow, but nods at him. "Oh yeah, sure."

・・★・・・・・・★・・

so that was a really awkward way to end a chapter! honestly, i didn't know how else to finish this so excuse the cringe worthy ending.

college (aka hell) is back in session so i haven't had the time actually sit down and write the way i've wanted to but i realized that i had already written this chapter so it kinda worked out.

also, lowkey still thinking about writing something new? not to say that i'm not over the flash completely, but i'm kinda interested in other things besides it. so yeah leave ya girl some suggestions here pls (and for all you guys still interested in this story, don't worry i'm still going to continue it! i didn't spend my entire summer re-plotting this just to quit now)

overall, i hope you enjoyed and tell me what you think!!!